The Rules Of Hnefatafl: Learn To Play “Viking Chess”
In this post I’m going to cover the rules of Hnefatafl for you.
Within minutes of reading this post, you’ll be able to start playing Hnefatafl the right way.
Keep in mind that there are many variations to the rules. But don’t worry: you don’t need to know all variations to get started playing.
First, I will give you all the standard rules, so that you can learn how to play Hnefatafl immediately.
For those who are interested in the different variations of the rules of Hnefatafl and its history, I will include more information about those topics below the standard rules.
The Standard Rules of Hnefatafl
In the standard version of Hnefatafl, there are only two types of pieces:
- The King
- The Pawns (Vikings)
That’s all there is to know. Easy enough right?
How the pieces are allowed to move
The king and the pawns move in exactly the same way.
For the chess players out there: they move like the rook in chess.
That means that in one move, a piece is allowed to move from one side of the board in a straight line to the other side of the board, and any square in between it.
However, pieces may never jump over other pieces.
Only the king is allowed to occupy the king’s central, and corner squares. However, other pieces are allowed to move through the central square.
Lastly, neither pawns or kings can move diagonally: the entire game is about moving in straight lines.
- All pieces move in the same way
- Pieces move in straight lines
- Pieces can move anywhere from one square, to the entire span of the board
- Pieces cannot jump over other pieces
- No piece can move diagonal
- Only the king can occupy the central king’s square, but others may pass through it
How to set up the Hnefatafl board
The standard Hnefatafl board is 11 x 11 squares. The king always starts right in the middle of the board. He is surrounded by pawns of his own color (white). On a 11 x 11 board there are 13 white pawns in addition to the king.
On every side of the board, is a group of pawns owned by the opposing player (black).
The black pawns are arranged in groups of 6 on each side of the board. 5 of these are directly bordering the edge of the board. The 6th black pawn is placed one file further, right in the same central column as where the king is placed.
Which colour begins in Hnefatafl?
Black begins.
Black always makes the starting move in any type or variant of Hnefatafl.
The winning conditions for white
White’s objective is simple:
Your king must occupy one of the four corner squares of the board to win, thus escaping the ambush set by the four tribes of the black player.
The winning conditions for black
Black wins when it successfully surrounds the white king with 4 black pawns on all four straight sides of the king.
Black also wins when the white king is boxed in by black pawns on thee sides, and the fourth side being the central square on which the king started.
Lastly, black also wins when the king is surrounded on 3 sides by black pawns and on the fourth side by the edge of the board, if white does not have any pawns left. This way black has also succesfully prevented the king from escaping and therefore wins.
How to capture a piece
Capturing a piece is very straightforward.
An attacking player can capture a piece by sandwiching an enemy piece between two pieces of the attacking players colour.
A piece is not captured if a player moves his own piece in between two enemy pieces during his own turn.
So by sandwiching we mean this: there is either an enemy pawn both to the north and south of the sandwiched piece, or there is an enemy piece to the east and west of the sandwiched piece. A piece is not captured if there are two enemy pieces bordering it on two sides that are not diametrically opposed.
Capturing multiple pieces at the same time
Yes, you can capture multiple pieces at the same time in a Hnefatafl game.
During a game of Hnefatafl, sometimes a position occurs where a player can move a pawn in between 2 or sometimes even three pawns of the opponent. If all of these pawns have a pawn of the attacking color behind them, they are captured.
So there is no rule preventing multiple pieces to be captured at the same time.
Special capture rules
If you start playing based on the above rules, you’ll probably already be able to play a decent game. But before long you’ll start wondering the following:
What happens when black simply blocks the corner squares, so that white’s king can never escape?
This would obviously make the game incredibly easy for black.
That’s why any pawn can also be captured between an enemy piece and one of the four corner squares.
Does this mean that white pieces can also be captured by corner squares? Yes it does. Both black and white pawns can be captured between an enemy piece and a corner square of the Hnefatafl board.
Infinite move repetition is not allowed
When the same moves are continuously executed by both players, black wins.
White is unable to escape with the king.
Generally, three repetitions suffices.
Additional rules
In addition to the standard rules, there exist many variants of hnefatafl, each shifting the balance a little bit into either white or black’s favour and changing the dynamic of the game.
The Shield Wall Rule of Hnefatafl
The shield wall rule enables a player to capture several pieces at the same time.
The pieces that are to be captured must be against the edge of the board. Once they are fully encircled on all sides besides the edge, they are captured. Corner squares may act as a capturing pawn in the shield wall.
The king may partake in a shield wall, capturing the enemy pawns. When the king himself is the victim of a shield wall, he is not captured, but his pawns are.
Here’s an in depth article about the shield wall rule if you want to learn more.
Enclosure / Cordon
There are two versions of the enclosure or “cordon” winning condition.
In the first version, when all white pieces are encircled by a black pieces, black wins. This is because the king has no way to escape.
It may however be the case that due to the nature of the enclosure, it is still possible for white to capture a black piece and thereby break the cordon. That’s why there’s a second set of rules which adds to this rule the condition that the white player must have no way to capture a black piece in order for black to win.
Exit forts
Another popular rule of Hnefatafl is the exit fort.
The exit fort is a winning condition for white and it occurs when white’s king touches the edge of the board, is fully encircled by pawns of his own color, and it is impossible for black to break the fort by capturing one of these defending pawns.
